Agitation in the 1960s
... inherited and following a pattern of dissent from their parents’ generation, formed a counter-culture which rejected many of the fundamental values of American society. Students held protests fighting war, racism, and poverty resulting in very few changes. One substantial changes did result from the protests was that average persons ideas about the Vietnam War changed and this public opinion possibly ended the war sooner that it would have if the students had not held their protests. Although the civil rights movement had already occurred, African Americans still were discriminated against and saw the need to protest. Black militants took over the leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, reversing Martin Luther King’s view of nonviolence. Stokely Carmichael told all blacks to revolt against whites and started the cry of black power. Positive results did occur from the Black Panther movement which included Black Nationalism, and African Americans began to take pride in their ethnic roots. Women took part in all of the 1960s protests but started to become aware that they were also being discriminated against in those protests as well as in their daily lives. Women soon realized they could only achieve respect and equality by mounting their own protest. Betty Frieden saw the discrimination against middle class women and wrote The Feminin Mystique which dealt with the view of the women place in society. Se...